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Zero
Zero is a Jem'Hadar warrior who, alongside the Vorta known as Yeor Worldbreaker, is an Emissary of the Bajoran Prophets. It is known for its brutality and skill in battle, having acted as cha'dich to God Emperor Azaram during the Two Man War. It is the leader of the ob'maQ school of Klingon Martial Arts. During the Second Bajor Incident, Zero disappeared without a trace, joining the Prophets in the Bajoran Wormhole. Five years later, Zero has emerged from the Wormhole a dedicated blade of the Prophets. It's gods have sent it forth with a holy mission: destroy the Tholians at any cost. To that end, Zero has claimed it's place among the original Dev'vo'Qul of the Red Path. After taking it's Paladin, The Strength of Blades, to war at the battle of Tholia 447, Zero has once again mysteriously vanished without a trace. It is played by Nick Gilman. Personal History Early History The Dominion War Zero was birthed from the clone vats of Jem'Hadar Production Facility 13-37. During accelerated growth training, as well as the usual combat efficiency it showed an aptitude for stellar cartography and physics that caused the Vorta overseers to fast track it to the star ship pilot program. A few months later, Zero would face its first combat assignment. As Second and helmsman of one of the first Jem'Hadar Battleships assigned to the alpha quadrant, Zero participated in the destruction of the USS Valiant. It was shortly after this mission that the Battleship disappeared from the Dominion communications network. Little did the founders know that it had been the target of a Section 31 attack. The ship was destroyed - and Zero, along with several other high ranking Jem'Hadar, was taken captive. Captivity Under Section 31 It was transferred to a Section 31 research facility for the duration of the war. It was here that the scientists (as well as Zero) would discover that it was part of a small subsection of the Jem'Hadar with a mutation that allowed it to survive without Ketracel White . This made Zero a favorite subject of the research staff. Though they did not kill it, their "procedures" were enough to make it lose its faith in the Founders. After all, if it had been created to fight and then die in their name, why was it being allowed to suffer this fate? They particularly enjoyed taunting it with news of Dominion losses. It was in this cell and this state of mind that Zero watched the war unfold. Near the end of the war, having deemed it purged of all useful information, Section 31 released Zero to a federation POW colony on New France. Here it learned of the Dominions ultimate defeat at the hands of Benjamin Sisko. With the war over, it was given back to the Dominion at Deep Space Nine during a final POW exchange and returned to the Gamma quadrant in the last wormhole opening for 50 years. The Dissolution of the Dominion Back in the Dominion, Zero was shunned by its fellow Jem'Hadar, who saw being captured alive as the ultimate failure. Disillusioned with its "freedom," it was during this time that Zero decided that the ultimate act of rebellion against its former Gods would be to survive for as long as it could. It left Dominion space and began a life as a pirate and mercenary for hire. Lacking a place in society would not be Zero's problem alone. With Odo's return to the great link, the Founders began a reevaluation of their empire. Shortly after the end of the war with the Federation, they chose to dissolve the Dominion. The Vorta and Jem'Hadar production facilities were to be shut down and the peoples under dominion rule would be allowed to reclaim autonomy. Though the Founders intentions may have been peaceful, the outcome was not. The Gamma Quadrant exploded, with hundreds of would-be empires sprouting up and going to war with one another. Huge numbers of Vorta and Jem'Hadar, abandoned by their gods, viewed these events as nothing less then a religious apocalypse. Cut off from their supplies of Ketracel White, millions of Jem'Hadar fell to savagery before dying in agony from the withdrawal. Many Vorta took their own lives, choosing the "Final Death" over witnessing a galaxy without the Founders benevolent hand. For fifty years Zero would roam these hellish stars, gathering a treacherous crew of white resistant Jem'Hadar to his side and taking by force what he needed to survive. Partnership with Yeor Worldbreaker 50 years after the end of the Dominion, Zero's fate would change once again when it came into contact with the great Vorta anarchist Yeor Worldbreaker. Zero and it's crew were planning to take Yeor's ship by force, but were talked into a partnership with the promise of greater plunder. Their first target: the Great Wadi Games. To provide them an edge, Yeor revealed he had several rare vials of Ketracel White in his possession. Deicide at The Great Wadi Games With a team of Jem'Hadar at it's side, Zero entered the games. After handily winning the competition, Yeor took him to claim their prize: a captured founder. While it was still in its gelatinous form, Yeor shot and killed the changeling. Mutiny on the Goran'Egar Zero himself refused Yeor's supply of the white, but Yeor talked him into providing it to his crew. The night after the mission, having tasted the white again, Zero's first officer Rakticar'icar mutinied, and the crew followed. Zero responded by killing several of them before setting the ships warp-core for a critical overload. Along with Yeor, Zero made it to an escape pod before the ship exploded. They were then pulled into a mysterious wormhole. '' Arrival in the Alpha Quadrant Encounter with the Bajoran Prophets Inside the wormhole, Zero and Yeor experienced their first vision from the Bajoran Prophets. Though their words were enigmatic, they seemed to be requesting aid in a coming conflict. Alliance with Barada Damar The wormhole deposited Zero and Yeor within the Alpha quadrant, a relatively short distance from Deep Space Nine. By universal fate, they arrived at the station roughly the same time as the young Cardassian prince Barada Damar. It was Barada who retrieved their escape pod and brought them to Deep Space Nine, with the assistance of the federation officer Hadron. Aboard the station, Yeor managed to convince the Commander-General Kira Nerys that they were not the vanguard of a new dominion invasion, and were even willing offer their services. They were assigned to a ship under Barada's command, the Zissan, and participated in the 1st defence of Prophets Landing. There they first faced and defeated the forces of Gul Paneel. They then returned to Deep Space Nine where they successfully defended the station from a Breen expeditionary invasion force. The Battle of Bajor & The Assassination of Shar'Kil'A'Kil After the defense of DS9, Zero was sent as part of Barada's crew to help repel a Breen invasion of Bajor. They arrived at the planet to discover Federation ships already in orbit. Tensions were high, but a shaky alliance was hastily formed when a massive Breen invasion fleet dropped out of warp. Unfortunately, even the combined force was heavily outnumbered and outgunned. As the battle in space was was slowly lost, Zero and Yeor were sent to the surface of the planet to investigate strange energy readings coming from the Temple of the Prophets. At the temple, they crossed paths with the away team from the U.S.S. London. Their captain, Dolan Prem was facing a dilemma: use the orb of destruction to activate the Prophets hidden weapon or allow the living Iconian Shar'Kil'A'Kil access to the Celestial Temple with the promise he would use the power within would to repel the invasion. Upon seeing Shar'Kil'A'Kil, Zero was struck with a vision from the Prophets, warning him that the Iconian was an enemy and had to be eliminated. Zero revealed himself, attempting to convince those present that Shar'Kil'A'Kil could not be trusted. Unfortunately, the London had taken catastrophic damage in orbit and was plummeting to the surface of the planet with all hands on board. The Iconian changed tactics, now offering to use his techno-psionic powers to save Prem's ship in exchange for entrance to the Celestial Temple. The bajoran agreed, and Shar'Kil'A'Kil set about rescuing the London. With all eyes on the falling London, no one paid attention as the Jem'Hadar moved to the Iconian's back. Before anyone present realized what was happening, Zero impaled Shar'Kil'A'Kil on it's Kar'takin, ending the Iconian's 500,000 year life. The London crashed, and with no alternative Prem was forced to activate the orbs. This summoned the crystalline entities to Bajor. In the midst of the ensuing chaos, Zero and Yeor escaped back to Damar's command ship and fled the system. The Cardassian Civil War The Slaughter at Empok Nor Zero returned to Deep Space Nine. At the request of Garak, Zero joined Damar's expedition to Cardassian space. Their mission was the destabilize the advance of the self-proclaimed prophet Gul Paneel. This would require the destruction of his forward base at Empak Nor. Zero and Yeor were easily placed on the station by offering them as living spoils for Paneel's trophy room. Once aboard, they escaped their captivity and carved a bloody path through the station. Eventually they discovered Paneel had attained his power through a secret alliance with in the Tholian Empire. After attaining proof of this treachery, Zero and Yeor destroyed the station along with a healthy percentage of Paneel's forces in the sector. Using their captured data, they convinced most of survivors to defect to Damar's service, thus dealing a crippling blow to Paneel. Partnership with Gul Lagat Again at Garaks suggestion, Barada's forces set off to meet with the figurehead of the Cardassian Democratic movement: Kresten Lagat. They made a brief stop at Prophets Landing but moved on with haste after the outcome of a meeting between Barada and his brother made it clear he would not be supporting his families dynasty in the civil war. They continued on into Lagat space, eventually locating his main stronghold in a re-purposed Obsidian Order outpost. In a meeting with Lagat, Zero and Yeor agreed to help him find Gul Paneel and put an end to his faction. The Tong Beak Expedition Along with Lagat's personal Jem'Hadar bodyguard Set'tilekticon, Zero and Yeor journeyed to the edges of Cardassian space. Within the Tong Beak Nebula, they managed to locate and infiltrate Paneel's final base of operations. The secret outpost was a relic of forgotten religion and technology built long before the Cardassian Union. At the heart of the facility, Zero and Yeor finally confronted Gul Paneel. Despite his suit of Tholian power armor, they were able to defeat him when Yeor spliced the energies of the facility into his trilithium pistol. The single powerful shot this afforded broke his armor and gave Zero the opening to take his head. After killing the self proclaimed prophet, Zero and Yeor were mysteriously teleported away as they attempted to exit the facility, leaving Set'tilekticon behind. The Klingon Revolution The Battle of Boreth Zero found himself on the middle of a battlefield, standing back to back with the Red Path founder Azaram of House Korath, an army of Klingons bearing down on them. Imbued with great power from the warrior-poets presence, Zero and Azaram successfully managed to kill several hundred Klingon warriors in hand to hand combat while simultaneously avoiding a planetary bombardment from the circling Klingon fleet. In the heat of battle, Azaram's true nature as Kahless reborn was revealed, and the helpless attackers threw down their weapons and acknowledged him just as a Romulan fleet arrived to deal with the last resistance in orbit. The Summit at Rura Penthe While Zero attended the summit at Rura Penthe, it left most of the complex planning that occurred there to the Vorta. Impressed by his prowess at the battle of Boreth, Azaram asked Zero to join him in his quest to retake the Klingon homeworld Qo'nos. Zero, similarly impressed, agreed. It was also at this time that he first met Azaram's father, Korath, who outfitted him with a bionic eye. The Qo'noS Invasion Leading up to the invasion, Zero successfully piloted the Quv vo'Kahless through the Praxis Nebula and the Klingon defensive line it contained, a feat thought impossible. This allowed Azarams forces to secretly land on Qu'nos. During the initial operations Zero stood by Azaram's side at the taking of the imperial city. He was present for the destruction of the gates of Kahless and the deaths of High Chancellor Bak, of house Duras and the False Emperor Molor. According to the Red Book, Zero was the first to proclaim Azaram as the new Emperor. The Two Man War After the suicide of General Chang, Zero accompanied Azaram to the military training grounds of the Tong Vey valley. During the pacification, he conquered the martial schools of 'obMaq and Bat'leth vo'Qul, the former being rechristened "The School of Zero," after he claimed leadership of the school. Ascent to the Bajoran Wormhole The Second Bajor Incident With Qo'nos successfully taken, the a Klingon Empire was formed around the principles of the Red Path. However, upon learning of Azarams earlier return to Bajor, and the existence of the orb of Restoration, Zero and Yeor became determined to return to the planet and activate it. Yeor used his considerable negotiation skills to talk Azaram into leading an expedition. The mission made it to the surface of Bajor, but once there was attacked by crystalline entities. The Quv'vo'Kahless managed to pull everyone off the surface but three: Azaram and Zero. Despite the radiation from the crystalline entities tearing at the very structure of their matter, Azaram was able to activate the orb. Contact with Emissaries As the orb activated, Zero and Yeor suddenly found themselves in a shared vision from the prophets. The ascended emissary Benjamin Sisko appeared to them and made them an offer: The prophets needed something more then an emissary, a new kind of servant to face a new threat. Without hesitation, Zero stepped forward, and was taken to the Celestial Temple. The Five Year Gap Time in the Wormhole Inside the wormhole Zero experienced, among other concepts: complete loss of individuality, cosmic awareness, temporally relativistic history, omnipresence and universal empathy. As the Jem'Hadar psyche was not built for such philosophical experiences, the transition was difficult. In its time there, it largely communicated with the prophets through the Sisko. Though the specifics were clouded, the prophets set a mission before the Jem'Hadar. A great enemy was returning, one whose power could threaten the prophets themselves. This enemy could not be stopped from within the Temple. The prophets needed a holy warrior to do their will in the physical world and face this evil. The prophets had a plan for the galaxy, and the enemy could not be allowed to interfere. While within the Temple, Zero had theoretically limitless knowledge of the outside world but virtually no contact with it. On one occasion it was pulled from the wormhole by the entity known as Q, but was sent to an event in Bajoran pre-history. It's only direct contact with its own time was through a psychic link with the Orion Solara K'sarsik. Return to the Alpha Quadrant Exiting the Wormhole In linear time, the wormhole remained inactive for five years after the second Bajor incident. When it again opened, it deposited an unprotected Zero directly into space. It was quickly detected by Battle Station Kira, now under the control of Barada Damar, and beamed aboard. Security was on high alert until Damar realized that this was the same Zero he had once known, though its time in the wormhole had clearly altered it physically and mentally. The Battle of BSK Shortly after his arrival, Zero helped defend Battle Station Kira against a massive Tholian Superstructure that had moved into the area of the wormhole under cover of advanced cloaking technology. Aboard the station, Zero fought in several close quarters engagements to repel boarders, and witnessed H.O.S.H.I.'s extremely effective combination of anti-Tholian fighting techniques using holographic weaponry. The station and its defenders were badly outgunned. However, H.O.S.H.I.'S use of digital information warfare combined allowed the defense to hold long enough for the arrival, via collider drive, of a fleet of Free State Lancers. The defenders then turned the tide, destroying the superstructure with the massed firepower of their reinforcements. Return to the Path Zero next returned to the Klingon homeworld of Qu'noS, to recruit soldiers for the holy war the prophets had tasked it with. There it discovered that its reverence for the prophets won it few allies among followers of the Red Path. Regardless, Zero returned to the Tong Vey valley, reclaimed it's place as Dev'vo'Qul and meditated atop the great forge for many days. The Tholian War Planning an Invasion As a Dev'vo'Qul, Zero was asked to attend a war council called by High Chancellor Worf . Here it learned that the Tholians had been steadily encroaching on the Alpha quadrant during his five year absence. The Klingon Empire saw the signs of a coming invasion, and had decided to strike first. Worf outlined a plan to strike deep into Tholian space and attack a military star system to try and force peace. Again, as was its right as Dev'vo'Qul, Zero claimed one of the recently completed Paladins. With the help of Valkris of Magara, the ship was filled with a red path crew and prepared for the coming conflict. As a final preparation, Zero paid a last visit to Korath. The mad klingon gifted it with a holographic Bat'leth to use against the Tholians. Personality and Appearance Physical Appearance Upon it's initial return to the alpha quadrant, Zero looked much the same as any Jem'Hadar. Those who still survived all bore the same signs of advanced aging: larger horns, thicker scales and increased size and muscle mass. Zero lacked a left eye, having lost it in the turbulence of the post-Dominion gamma quadrant. Before the invasion of Qo'Nos, Zero would see it replaced with a bionic designed by Korath. After returning from his time with the prophets, Zero was physically altered. He was even larger than he had been. His form was leaner, and more streamlined. The many scars of his violent life were gone, as was the bionic eye, replaced by the real thing. Personality Zero's philosophy after the Dominion war was simple: defy the founders by living as long as possible. Though it retained much of his purpose bred viciousness, Zero was loyal to no one but itself and valued nothing over its own continued survival. Contact with the Prophets set off the long dormant part of its genetic design that craved a power to serve. For the first time in half a century, Zero had found something worth fighting for. Zero is a creature of few words, and while years of caution have taught it to avoid being quick to anger, it is still extremely dangerous when roused to violence. With a holy cause behind its actions, it is beginning to revel in combat once again.